Animal rights activists donate to de Blasio campaign

Bill de Blasio said he would ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park. Credit: Bess Adler

After announcing that he would ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park "within one week" of becoming mayor, Bill de Blasio has earned the support of some prominent animal rights activists.

Though de Blasio passed on legislation that would have banned the carriages in 2007, he said at a forum in March that he would end the carriages within one week on the job as mayor, The New York Post reports.

Now, some members of an animal-rights group have donated to de Blasio's campaign and funded ads against his rival, Christine Quinn.

Steve Nislick, co-founder of the group NYCLASS, donated the maximum $4,950 to the campaign. Wendy and John Neu, also of NYCLASS, donated $9,900, the Post reports.

The organization spent $774,000 in ads against Quinn, who has been a longtime target of animal-rights groups because of her support of the horse-drawn carriages.

"As he met with advocates who brought to his attention the conditions in the industry, he concluded that protecting the horses was more important than the tradition," said de Blasio spokesman Dan Levitan, who said the mayoral candidate had been skeptical about the ban in 2007.